pandora’s blaster: 2008 topps stadium club

I really hadn’t intended to collect 2008 Topps Stadium Club cards, let alone build an entire set- that is, until fellow card bloggers and a national department store chain conspired to present me with an offer I was unable to refuse.

Fourteen blaster boxes later, yes fourteen, and I am still trying to completely wrap my brain around the short print situation and rookie card variations. In a nutshell, out of the 150-card checklist, if a card number is evenly divisible by 3, I do not have a single plain old, non-“1st Day Issue” card. PERIOD! So these must be short printed cards that are serial numbered on the back to 999? Okay, I pulled a couple of those (24 and 33).

I did pull 1st Day Issue parallel cards of most of the missing “power of three” cards, which would put me very close to have completed an entire set- albeit half-assed in reality. The sell sheets I’ve seen indicated that these 1st Day Issue parallel cards would be serial numbered short prints, but none of the ones I’ve pulled are. I don’t get it.

Furthermore, the rookie cards and their variations mock me. Thus I will be using scans of Garrett Mock’s card no. 109 in this discussion of my current understanding how those cards are supposed to exist.

Base rookie: Okay, this technically maybe isn’t a base card. Serial numbered 186/999, this Garrett Mock “base” card seems to be a short print. It had been my understanding that each player has one regular card like this.

Base rookie – 1st Day Issue: Again, card no. 109, not serial numbered on the back, but includes the 1st Day Issue foil on the front. Simple enough.

Rookie variation: Also card no. 109, not serial numbered, and I thought these cards would NOT have a parallel 1st Day Issue counterpart. Although this is where another limb branches outward from my tree of confusion, it is not the end.

My main question is how are collectors supposed to know which is the base and which is the variation if we only pull a single card of a player? Actually, even when I pull two I don’t know which is “A” and which is “B.”

These two Gregorio Petit cards illustrate my multiplying confusion surrounding the 1st Day Issue parallels. I didn’t think the Rookie variation card was supposed to have a 1st Day Issue parallel, but clearly they do. At least some do. Neither of these cards is serial numbered short prints or anything like that. I just don’t know. Again, which is the “base,” and which is the variation? Why do I care? Maybe because it is wintertime and figuring this out is more entertaining than watching football.

I am of the opinion that the Rookie auto cards are fantastic. The autographs are on card and positioned as to not compete with the image.

I also really like the Beam Team cards even though I find the sticker autographs distracting and unappealing. (Note to Topps: Sharpies will write on plastic, so knock it off with the stickers already.) These stained glass “Shrinky Dinks” cards would really make for a great set all by themselves- preferably unautographed.

I have posted my “needs” list on the Aardvark Trading Company trade page which will make it easier to keep updated than to attempt to do so here in this blog entry. I will probably continue to chase this set as long as the price is right, but rest assured- I already have enough duplicates, triplicates, and quadruplicates to keep me in trading stock until the Cubs manage to win a World Series.

Finally, here is a scan of an Albert Pujols Photographer’s Proof card (serial numbered 48/99) that I will probably end up trading to a rabid Pujols collector. It is neat and all, but it probably belongs in a collection where it will be appreciated more than it will in mine.

At any rate, please do not hesitate to leave comments or email your thoughts on the issues I’ve discussed, or to make trade offers after reviewing my 2008 Topps Stadium Club Baseball want list.